I came to a realisation about the apparent contradictions of the human
psyche the other night - not a list of cynical observations, but more a
dictation of our psychological tendencies as human beings. This is how I
see things at this point in time, if you guys have any input I'd be interested
to hear it.

I used to think exactly like you. I was the epitome of a nihilist. Then i watched Carl Sagan's the cosmos. Came to peace with how insignificant us human beings are in the universe. And i couldn't be happier.

You talk of abstract concepts like 'hope', 'love', 'success', and 'appreciation'. It may feel like
you're realizing something significant, but you're just relating abstract concepts in abstract ways,
which is meaningless. Existence isn't 'hopeless' and 'miserable', necessarily. Existence just 'is'.

i actually agree with potsy on this. i mean its not that some of these arent true, theyre just an extremely pessimistic way to view life. i mean you can make a list about 100 things on why life is great, if you have a more positive attitude on life then thoughts like these wont even come in your head

Personally, I actually feel like I've broken free of all of these (except for 16, but I will).

Just live a life where you learn to be satisfied and at peace with what you have and the people you are fortunate enough to know, even if you hate some people you know. At least you know people and aren't a vegetable or something. Don't go for a big house in the suburbs. I plan to buy a plot of land (about $10K for 5-10 acres out here) and build a relatively small (500 sq. ft.) A-frame using the experience I already have building structures. That'll probably cost a total of about 60,000 bucks at most. So just pay that off, put solar on it and put in a well (which I've already done before) and you're set... especially if you use logs because they insulate well.

Then, just figure out a decent career that doesn't take all of your time, but pays enough to make ends meet.

Find a cool chick.

Call it good.

I admire the Transcendentalists though, so that's where I pull some of my ideas.

Listen, Puzzle, don't think so small. Where do you want to travel to? What topics are you interested in? You have a lot to do, we all do, we have no time to sit and think about the end yet.

Go to Iceland or wherever, go take a Tai Chi class or read articles on a certain science you're into. Get busy and tame your mind to more productive things. Tell your mind to shut up and concentrate on learning something or figuring a puzzle out (hey that's your name)

Seriously, don't sweat it. Have fun and get a little fire under you, go research and solve something

then again thoughts like these can stem from depression or being suicidal, which isnt something you can just change you might have to see a doctor or therapist or something but more often than not its a mental thing. just stop overthinking things and being so pessimistic and just live. you guys take so much shit for granted, you should be happy to even be alive

I don't think like this all the time - at times I'm the complete opposite and I go up and down. Anyway, I think you guys overplayed the cynicism of this list in lieu of the attention grabbing title. Besides, Sputnik is more likely to respond to "Life is Hopeless". I added 18 shits and gigs, but the rest was fairly genuine. These are just observations I've made, not outlooks that dictate the direction of my life.

The way I see it, plain and simple, master the mind, body and soul. Then come back to me if you still feel pessimistic. Until then, work on it and follow every bit of information you come across. This may just be an engine failure

"The way I see it, plain and simple, master the mind, body and soul. Then come back to me if you still feel pessimistic. Until then, work on it and follow every bit of information you come across. This may just be an engine failure"

Just had some of these feelings the other day. Weird. But yeah, don't give up hope or anything. 11 holds true, but that's why you have to cherish those moments when they happen, take everything that makes you happy and make sure you remember what that feels like, and if you can't do that, remember what that feeling that feeling feels like, if that makes sense. Like, remembering to remember something. You kind of just have to grab life by the balls and don't let anything fuck up what you find great in this shitty life.

i was giving my opinion and you chose to disagree with it while proclaiming your disagreement as factual. that in itself is short-sighted and shows your unwillingness to see things from someone else's perspective. frankly, i'm disappointed that you chose to go down the perpetually confrontational route that you recently accused me of taking. but w/e s'all good

Man I know the feeling of these things. Once you come to terms with it all you will have a very fulfilling life.

And also, about half of these things are just flat out wrong unfortunately:

7: may be true for material success, perhaps think of success from a different perspective.

9: Believe it or not, you control how you think about things, you choose to indulge in the thoughts that may or may not be good for you. It's easy to get caught up in yourself and get caught up thinking about these things, wallowing in it all. You don't have to be a "victim."

8: Just flat out wrong, you can learn a lot by listening to others. Not to mention you can build strong relationships. Perhaps you should evaluate your person rather than making sweeping generalizations.

10: Then don't seek them out.

16: Not really, you choose to be in order to exist with the rest of society.

11: This is true by definition... I guess it doesn't even make sense what you are trying to say. Obviously emotions are felt at the time they are... well... being felt. You can be happy all the time if you know what you are doing.

All that is pretty much true-to a degree. But dwelling on it does just as little good as not. Reflection and philosophising, as well as undertaking your own spiritual journey (I use this in the broadest sense of the term; I myself identify as agnostic), are good, but make sure to balance them with productivity and actually living your life. Life is a meaningless, perennial search for something we'll never have–and so what? That doesn't in any way cheapen the search at all. The journey is always the worthier part. And as Aussies, we've got more opportunities to make the most of that search than most people in the world.
What I'm saying, I guess, is that there's not actually a single thing you can do to change any of these facts. You can, however, come to terms with them, learn to stop paying heed to the bullshit that goes on between and with other people, and learn to focus on what you really want to aim for. After that everything falls into place.

Also, Sagan's COSMOS is brilliant. Less so as an accurate scientific account and more as a philosophical discussion these days, but still awesome. I'm lucky my mother was a huge Sagan fan.

Anyway. I went through a similar sort of existential crisis about a year ago. I won't pretend I know what you're going through, because everyone experiences this stuff differently, but I can empathise. Just keep at it and you'll get there. After coming out of that, this year has easily been the best of my life. And remember to stop and smell the roses every once in a while. They may be impermanent, thorny, inhabitants of a meaningless existence who aimlessly convert sunlight into nutrients, but fuck, do they smell nice. And the ladies go wild for them. ;)

"[My daughter] didn't know any of those things, and now she knows all of those things... She's going to die, everyone she knows is going to die, they're going to be dead for a very long time, and then the sun is going to EXPLODE. She learned all of that in twelve seconds at the age of seven." - Louis C.K.

man potsy i thought we had a good thing goin but obviously it wasn't meant to be judging by your
increasingly hostile attitude towards me and everyone else on the site who happens to share a
different opinion than you

Butkuiss knows exactly where it's at. By the way, let me reiterate what I said before -

"I don't think like this all the time - at times I'm the complete opposite and I go up and down. Anyway, I think you guys overplayed the cynicism of this list in lieu of the attention grabbing title. Besides, Sputnik is more likely to respond to "Life is Hopeless". I added 18 shits and gigs, but the rest was fairly genuine. These are just observations I've made, not outlooks that dictate the direction of my life."

Guys be nice to each other. Some of you might think somebody's a worthless oxygen thief, but just sit tight and remember that you are too! Also, I don't recall professing my love for cock

Back on topic: this list is spot on about life, people who are happy just ignore to see it or can't see it (in which case the person would be dumb). I wish I could ignore to see it, but it's outside my capacities.

I understand existential viewpoints, to a degree, and agree with some of it

but there are friends, family, etc. and things in life that can make you happy and give you meaning/purpose, etc, and there are ways to create that for yourself also. basically there's lots of cool stuff in life to experience so suck it up dude. this list is a pretty negative and depressive compilation of "observations"

I came to a realisation about the apparent contradictions of the human psyche the other night - not a list of cynical observations, but more a dictation of our psychological tendencies as human beings. This is how I see things at this point in time, if you guys have any input I'd be interested to hear it.[2]